This is a listing of houses in the Westerlands that appear in A Song of Ice and Fire that do not have enough members or tropes to justify their own page (yet).
For the main character index, see here
The Westerlands
Ruled by House Lannister from the stronghold of Casterly Rock overlooking the city of Lannisport, the Westerlands is the richest region of Westeros, being home to numerous gold and silver mines. Bordered by the Riverlands to the northeast and the Reach to the southeast, numerous mountains and hills along the border give the Westerlands natural defensive barriers. However, the coastline is flat and very vulnerable to assault, particularly by Ironborn raiders. The region used to be ruled by the extinct House Casterly, which was deposed by Lann the Clever, who founded House Lannister. Bastards in the Westerlands are given the surname "Hill".
The Westerlands are the only region in Westeros that is not featured in any POV character chapter in ASOIAF, the Tales of Dunk & Egg, nor is featured in the Archmaester Gyldayn's Histories. Most of the information related to the Westerlands come from members of House Lannister and their bannermen due to their involvement in the War of the Five Kings, as well as accounts of Robb Stark's exploits in the region from secondhand sources; additional information regarding the region is further discussed in The World of Ice and Fire.
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Tropes related to the Westerlands
- Demoted to Dragon: The Lannisters reduced the Baneforts and Farmans to vassals. The Lannisters then lost to the Targaryens and were made Wardens.
- The Empire: Under Tywin's control, the Westerlands are very tight-laced and powerful.
- Fiction 500: Despite not being the largest, most fertile or most populous, it's very wealthy due to the gold and silver mines.
- Great Offscreen War: The Reyne-Tarbeck rebellion which is the basis for "The Rains of Castamere".
- Lord Country: The Baneforts, Crakehalls and Greenfields.
- Out of Focus: Despite the Lannisters having such a huge role in the series, the Westerlands are the only region of the Seven Kingdoms in the books to remain off-screen as of the fifth book.
- The Rival: For most of its history it was the Iron Islands and the Reach, since those two are its immediate neighbours with whom the Kings of the Rock fought many battles to defend its land and sea borders. It was only very recently, that it became embroiled in a bitter ideological conflict with the Riverlands and the North when for most of their history they were neutral (and even allied with the Starks to fight Dagon Greyjoy).
- Small Role, Big Impact: Lord Regenard Estren probably negotiated between the Lannisters and Freys, which led to the Red Wedding.
Great House
House Lannister
House Lannister of Casterly Rock
- "Hear Me Roar!"—House Lannister words
Fair-haired, tall, and handsome, the Lannisters are the blood of Andal adventurers who carved out a mighty kingdom in the western hills and valleys. Through the female line they boast of descent from Lann the Clever, the legendary trickster of the Age of Heroes who tricked the members of House Casterly into giving him Casterly Rock during the era of the First Men.
The Lannisters reigned as Kings of the Rock until they fell to the Targaryen conquest, but were allowed to remain the liege lords of the westerlands. The House had fallen on hard times during the rule of Lord Tytos, but was restored to its former glory by Lord Tywin. His daughter Cersei is the queen of King Robert I Baratheon, while her twin Ser Jaime is a knight of Robert's Kingsguard. Members of the family tend to have golden hair and emerald green eyes.
- See the House Lannister page.
Noble Houses
House Banefort
House Banefort of Banefort
House Banefort of Banefort is a noble house from Banefort in the westerlands, one of the main families sworn to Casterly Rock.
According to semi-canon sources they blazon their shields with a hooded man, black on grey with within a fiery tressure.
- In the Hood: Their sigil is a hooded man.
- Lord Country: Lords Banefort of Banefort.
Lord Quenten Banefort, Lord of Banefort
Quenten Banefort is the Lord of Banefort and head of House Banefort.
- Badass in Distress: Lord Quenten Banefort is captured during the Battle of the Whispering Wood and held by House Bracken at Stone Hedge. After he is freed, Jaime Lannister notes Quenten looks well and ready to return to battle.
- Bit Character: Lord Quenten has so far only appeared in one scene, being one of the Westerlands lords who escort Lord Tywin Lannister's corpse back to Casterly Rock.
- My Nayme Is: Quenten instead of Quentin.
Historical Baneforts
King Morgon Banefort, Hooded King
Morgon Banefort was the last Hooded King of House Banefort during the Age of Heroes.
- Dying Curse: Morgon was said to have been a powerful necromancer who cursed his vanquishers as he died, claiming he would return from the grave. In response, Loreon had Morgon's body cut into pieces and fed to his lions. Two years later the lions broke free within Casterly Rock, slaying three of Loreon's sons.
- Last of His Kind: The last Hooded King.
House Bettley
House Bettley is a noble house from the Westerlands. They blazon their arms with three blue beetles on gold.
Ser Jon Bettley
Beardless Jon
A knight of House Bettley in service to House Lannister. He accompanies Ser Jaime Lannister on his campaign to end the remaining resistance in the Riverlands after the Red Wedding.
- Awful Wedded Life: He goes with Strongboar to hunt outlaws near Darry after Riverrun is subdued so he doesn't have to go back to his wife, who is famously ugly and apparently has the beard he lacks.
- In-Series Nickname: Beardless Jon, due to his inability to grow a beard.
- Satellite Character: To Jaime.
House Brax
House Brax of Hornvale
House Brax of Hornvale is a noble house from the westerlands, among the chief bannermen of House Lannister of Casterly Rock. Their seat is Hornvale.
Their shield depicts a purple unicorn on silver. Their motto has not been revealed yet.
Tropes related to House Brax:
- Famous Ancestor: Lady Cerissa Brax was the wife of Lord Damon Lannister, the Grey Lion, and the mother of his two sons Tybolt and Gerold, making her direct ancestor of the current Lannisters.
Lord Andros Brax, Lord of Hornvale
Head of House Brax and Lord of Hornvale at the start of the series. Father of Ser Tytos, Ser Robert, and Ser Flement Brax and brother to Ser Rupert. Killed at the Battle of the Camps when the Northern army breaks the siege of Riverrun in A Game of Thrones.
- General Failure: He got a good portion of his soldiers killed with him in his foolish attempt to cross the Tumblestone.
- The Ghost: Mentioned only a few times, mostly after his death.
- Too Dumb to Live: Crossing a river on rickety rafts in full plate armor while under fire from catapults is a very good way to drown, as Andros discovered.
Lord Tytos Brax, Lord of Hornvale
The son and heir of Lord Andros. He becomes the new Lord of Hornvale after his father dies.
- Badass in Distress: Captured at the Whispering Wood, although he somehow left captivity in time to be in King's Landing after the Battle of the Blackwater.
- Bit Character: He has only appeared very briefly twice in the series with no lines.
- You Are in Command Now: After his father's death at the Battle of the Camps.
Ser Flement Brax
Third son of Andros and the new heir to House Brax. He is married to Morya Frey, third daughter of Walder Frey, and has three children, Robert, Walder and Jon Brax.
- Bling of War: He wears silver armor inlaid with amethysts.
- Cavalry Officer: Commands outriders for the Lannister forces in the Riverlands during Lord Tywin's campaign. He later commands two hundred heavy horse under Ser Jaime during the mop-up operations in the region.
- Cool Helmet: His helm his in the shape of a horse's head and has a two foot long spiral horn, a reference to the unicorn sigil of House Brax.
- Innocently Insensitive: While travelling with Jaime, Flement admires the golden hand that was forged to go on Jaime's stub, not realizing that Jaime was extremely frustrated by the fact that he was no longer a Master Swordsman. Jaime got so annoyed by this he told Flement he could have the hand if he cut his own sword hand off, which stopped Flement and the rest of the nobles from making anymore comments about the hand.
House Crakehall
House Crakehall of Crakehall
- "None So Fierce"—Crakehall House Words
House Crakehall of Crakehall is one of the primary noble houses from the Westerlands. Their seat, Crakehall, is located along the Ocean Road, at the south of the Westerlands, between the Sunset Sea and a large forest. The Crakehalls are known for their uncommon robustness.
Their arms depict a black and white brindled boar on brown.
- See the House Crakehall page.
House Falwell
House Falwell
A noble house of the Westerlands. Their seat is unknown. Their arms depict a fool in red and gold motley juggling five suns on black.
Tropes related to House Falwell:
- Court Jester: Their House sigil features one in red and yellow.
- The Ghost: While the House still exists, no member has appeared in the books so far.
Historical Falwells
Lord Rupert Falwell
The Fighting Fool
The head of House Falwell during the Faith Militant uprising. He's killed by Lord Mooton in the battle at the Great Fork of the Blackwater
- Defiant to the End: Killed two knights of Maegor's Kingsguard before being cut down by Lord Mooton.
- Real Men Love the Seven: He was a devout man and his nickname indicates he was a notable fighter.
- Rebel Leader: One of the pious lords that answer the High Septon's call on rebellion against Maegor.
House Farman
House Farman of Faircastle
- "The Wind Our Steed"—House Farman words
House Farman of Faircastle is the noble house ruling from Faircastle on Fair Isle, off the coast of the westerlands. They are known for their hatred of the ironborn from the Iron Islands.
They blazon their arms with three silver ships on blue, a border of crimson and gold.
Tropes related to House Farman:
- Arch-Enemy: They despise the Ironborn, who have long raided their holdings and briefly captured the island a few times.
- The Ghost: Their current lord, Sebaston Farman and his sister Jeyne.
- Know When to Fold Them: Years after the Reyne and Tarbeck rebellion Lord Farman (either the current one or previous one) grew defiant against his Lannister overlords. In response Tywin sent as an envoy a musician playing "The Rains of Castamere". Lord Farman got the message and caused no further trouble.
- My Nayme Is: Every member of this house has a weirdly spelled name.
Jeyne Farman
Jeyne Farman is a member of House Farman. She's a friend of Cersei Lannister.
- Childhood Friends: With Cersei and Melara.
- I Have Your Wife: She was a ward at Casterly Rock to keep her father in line.
- Ignorance Is Bliss: Cersei thinks Jeyne did the cleverest thing in her life by not hearing the prophecy. Now she is Happily Married with a dozen kids.
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: Jeyne was with Cersei and Melara when they went to the woods witch to get their fortunes read, but ran away when the witch opened her eyes.
- Shrinking Violet: Cersei remembers her as timid and scared of every shadow.
Historical Farmans
Gylbert Farman
Gylbert Farman was a member of House Farman.
- All There in the Manual: Only found on The World of Ice & Fire.
- Rebel Leader: Led the smallfolk of Fair Isle in an uprising to expel the ironborn from their island.
Lord Marq Farman
Lord of Fair Isle during the reign of Maegor I Targaryen and father to Franklyn, Androw, and Elissa.
- Like Father, Unlike Son: A reasonable and honorable guy, as opposed to his kids.
- My Nayme Is: Marq instead of Mark.
- Nice Guy: Just generally a pretty good person all around, not minding Rhaena's presence because she made Elissa and Androw happy.
- Token Good Teammate: Bravely resists Maegor's cruelty by hiding Rhaena. He's also the only member of his family who doesn't cause any harm to Rhaena in some way, shape or form.
- Undignified Death: He chokes on a fishbone during dinner.
- You Are in Command Now: Became Lord after the deaths of his father and older brother at the Battle Beneath the God's Eye.
Lord Franklyn Farman
Firstborn child and heir of Lord Marq Farman during the reign of Maegor I Targaryen and Lord of Fair Isle during the early years of the reign of Jaehaerys I.
- 0% Approval Rating: When he tried to stop Elissa from leaving Fair Isle with Rhaena, his own smallfolk manhandled him and threw him into a ship's hold full of freshly caught fish.
- Alliterative Name: "F"s
- Big Brother Bully: As with many others, he was dismissive and insulting towards his younger brother, Androw, and he wasn't any better towards Elissa.
- Bullying a Dragon: An almost literal case, as he decided that insulting and kicking out Rhaena Targaryen (who had a full grown dragon with her) out of Fair Isle as soon as he assumed the lordship of it was a good idea.
- Dude, Where's My Respect?: One of the reasons he didn't like Rhaena (besides just being a berk) was that he'd fought for Aegon the Uncrowned against Maegor, and felt he wasn't getting enough recognition for this. It's offset by, again, his being an unlikable arse.
- Jerkass: By all accounts, he wasn't pleasant to anyone, even if they were far more important than himself. Guy didn't even wait after his dad died to demand Rhaena pack her bags and GTFO.
- Jerkass Has a Point:
- For all his many flaws, he was not wrong in pointing out Rhaena had been a terrible mother to Aerea.
Franklyn Farman: I cannot claim to know the princess, but I would say she is well rid of you.- Gyldayn notes that while he's a tremendous asshole about it, he's got a point about Rhaena's presence on Fair Island during the days of Jaehaerys's regency.
- Snub by Omission: Jaehaerys made it pretty clear how he felt about Franklyn and his treatment of his sister Rhaena by refusing to set foot on Fair Isle until Franklyn was long dead and buried.
- Stay in the Kitchen: A sexist asshole towards Elissa, and was willing to try and force her to stay at home to wed and make babies. One of the other reasons he resented Rhaena was that she did not encourage Elissa to marry a husband.
- Too Dumb to Live: In the opinion of his maester, who wrote to the Citadel that Franklyn never seemed to realize just how close he got to being burned alive along with his entire castle.
- Years later, when Rhaena was searching for her missing daughter Aerea, when she turned up at Fair Isle, Franklyn curtly replied she wasn't there and that he'd drive her off as he did the girl's mother. Given Aerea was stubborn, short tempered and riding Balerion, the oldest and most powerful dragon in the known world, Rhaena dismissively summed up his chances of evicting Aerea if she turned up on Fair Isle.
Franklyn Farman: I cannot claim to know the princess, but I would say she is well rid of you, as was Fair Isle. If she turns up here, we shall see her off, just as we did her mother.
Rhaena Targaryen: You do not know Aerea, that much is true. If she does indeed find her way to these shores, my lord, you may find she is not as forbearing as her mother. Oh, and I wish you luck if you should try to "see off" the Black Dread. Balerion quite enjoyed your brother, by now, he may desire another course. - Villainous Valour: Not so much villainous as a certain kind of jerkass valor. To his credit he was quite unafraid of the no less jerkass
Rhaena or the Targaryen dragons. And was quite unimpressed with her petty, entitled threats of burning him and his island or having him eaten alive by a dragon for not getting her way. Were he Dornish, no doubt his House words would be 'Unbowed, Unbent, Unbroken'.
Elissa Farman
Second child of Lord Marq Farman during the reign of Maegor I Targaryen. She was a very close companion of Rhaena Targaryen.
- Arbitrarily Large Bank Account: Nobody ever knew exactly how much gold she got for the three dragon eggs she sold to the Sealord of Braavos, but even after financing the construction of a massive ocean-going carrack, she still had more than enough left over in the Iron Bank to solve every problem she encountered by simply throwing money at it.
- Bold Explorer: She led an expedition to the Sunset Sea, seeking to circumnavigate the world and discover new lands. Her only confirmed discovery was a trio of small islands; her crew then set off to continue sailing further west and were never heard from again.
- Caper Rationalization: She stole the dragon eggs because she was convinced she would be able to discover another continent across the Sunset Sea.
- Cool Aunt: To Princess Aerea Targaryen, her brother's stepdaughter. She was Aerea's only friend on Dragonstone, and told her stories of her adventures and promised to teach her how to sail.
- Cool Boat: The Sun Chaser, a braavosi-built, four-masted, ocean-going carrack with as much sail as a swan ship from the Summer Isles, but with a broader beam and deeper hull that allowed for enough supplies for an extended expedition.
- Every Man Has His Price: When she had trouble hiring a crew for her expedition she just payed exorbitant wages.
- Hide Your Lesbians: Her relationship with Rhaena Targaryen was an open secret, but they always tried to at least keep up appearances.
- Love-Interest Traitor: Was almost certainly in a relationship with Rhaena but left her to go on her adventures and stole three Targaryen dragon eggs to fund her journey.
- Paper-Thin Disguise: After her theft, she took the name Alys Westhill to cover her tracks. When she briefly returned to Westeros to seek a crew willing to go with her across the Sunset Sea, Jaehaerys heard about her and wasn't fooled for a moment about her true identity and she barely escaped arrest.
- Refuge in Audacity: Stealing three dragon eggs from Dragonstone to finance her expedition required a set of balls as large as the eggs themselves.
- Uncertain Doom: After parting ways with Eustace Hightower, she sailed the Sun Chaser deeper into the Sunset Sea and was never heard from again. Years later, Corlys Velaryon claimed to have spotted Sun Chaser in Asshai's harbor on his second great voyage, but what actually happened to Elissa and her crew, no one knows.
Androw Farman
Second son and third child of Lord Marq Farman during the reign of Maegor I Targaryen. He sheltered princess Rhaena Targaryen and both grew fond of each other during her stay and they eventually married.
- The Alcoholic: Became one while on Dragonstone, often spending his days drinking wine and moving painted wooden figures on the Painted Table. Rhaena's companions joked that he was planning his conquest.
- Armor-Piercing Question: While Rhaena was mourning Lianna Velaryon, whom he had poisoned, he asked her if she would mourn him as much. Rhaena angrily slapped him in response but he didn't care. He had already completed his revenge.
- The Beard: By all indications his marriage to Rhaena was a cover for the fact that she was in a relationship with Androw's sister Elissa. After Elissa left Dragonstone, their relationship deteriorated into a "mummer's farce." It turned out he hated the position and that he wanted to be loved by Rhaena and give her children.
- Because You Were Nice to Me: The reason Rhaena gave for marrying him. Well, that, and for appearances.
- Beneath Suspicion: He bitterly noted that the reason it was so easy to poison his victims was because they all saw him as little more than a servant and didn't question the fact he was giving them wine.
- Better to Die than Be Killed: He jumped out of a window to his death rather than be executed by his wife's guards. Considering she intended to geld him and keep him alive long enough to force-feed him his own penis, it was an entirely logical decision.
- Butt-Monkey: A deconstruction. He's a relatively nice guy, who nonetheless has no marketable skills whatsoever, not an ounce of boldness in him, and is treated like a nobody by his wife and her friends. So what happens? He snaps, and starts killing them for making fun of him.
- Cruel Mercy: Seemingly chose not to poison Rhaena so she would have to live without any friends or loved ones.
- Despair Event Horizon: When his sister, Elissa, escaped Dragonstone, he lost the one friend who treated him decently. This led him to snap and kill everyone Rhaena loved out of spite.
- The Dog Bites Back: Eventually violently snapped from all the humiliation he suffered at the hands of his wife and the other occupants of Dragonstone.
- Famous Ancestor: Not many second sons can fancy having married a Targaryen princess. Or going down in history as one of Westeros' most notorious poisoners and spree killers.
- Fed to the Beast: A posthumous example; after Androw committed suicide to escape Rhaena's fury, she had his corpse hacked up and fed to the dragons that made their lairs on Dragonstone.
- Humiliation Conga: Everyone in Dragonstone, from his lady wife to the meanest servant, treated him like absolute shit. Princess Aerea once emptied a chamber-pot on his head just because she was pissed off at her own mother.
- Incompatible Orientation: Part of his resentment towards Rhaena is that she never treated him as a proper husband or had children with him, as she only married him to be close to his sister.
- I Was Quite a Looker: He was handsome as a young man, but became round-shouldered and fleshy in his later years due to drinking heavily.
- Make It Look Like an Accident: He used a foreign poison almost unknown in Westeros during his murders to make it look like a plague had infected the island. He had to poison Dragonstone's maester early on to keep him from eventually discovering the truth.
- Marry for Love: What his marriage to Rhaena was on paper, but in fact he was merely a cover for Rhaena's relationship with Elissa.
- Mistreatment-Induced Betrayal: His mass poisonings on Dragonstone was due to how poorly everyone treated him.
- My Nayme Is: Androw, not Andrew.
- Near-Villain Victory: He might have gotten away with his crimes if it wasn't for Rego Draz, Jaehaerys' Master of Coin. Being from the Free Cities, he was easily able to identify the Tear of Lys as the cause of the Dragonstone deaths and Androw was immediately deduced as the culprit once a raven was sent to Rhaena.
- Never Learned to Read: He was illiterate, meaning that he could never join the Citadel, like many second sons often do, and he couldn't enjoy Dragonstone's large library. This is odd, since he should have received a proper education as a son of a noble family.
- Non-Action Guy: He had no aptitude for fighting and was never trained in arms or knighted.
- Revenge by Proxy: His method of getting back at Rhaena is to slowly murder her friends one by one.
- Riddle for the Ages: How did Androw obtain the Tears of Lys he used to poison his victims? Did he know how to make the poison himself, did he have some secret supplier, or did someone give it to him?
- We Used to Be Friends: It's possible he was genuinely fond of Rhaena at one point before, well, everyone started treating him like dirt and he snapped. It's also theorized that Rhaena offered to take him flying but the timid man refused.
- Who's Laughing Now?: After one humiliation too many he snapped and murdered five of his wife's favorite ladies and two maesters with the Tears of Lys. When confronted about it he goes on a rant about who they all looked down on him.Androw Farman: I brought them cups of wine and they drank. They thanked me, and they drank. Why not? A cup bearer, a serving man, that's how they saw me. Androw the sweet. Androw the jape. What could I do but fall off the dragon?
- Would Hurt a Child: One of his victims was 14 year old Lianna Velaryon.
- Would Hit a Girl: All but one of the victims of his killing spree were women.
Lysa Farman
One of the five daughters of Lord Farman during the Dance of the Dragons, who was taken as salt-wife by Dalton Greyjoy when he took over Fair Isle. After the Red Kraken's death, Gunthor Goodbrother slew Alester Wynch in order to get possession of her.
- Damsel in Distress: Lady Lysa Farman was one of the many women taken as salt-wives by the Red Kraken.
- My Nayme Is: Lysa not Lisa.
- Sex Slave: Her fate as a salt-wife.
- Small Role, Big Impact: Barely anything is known about her, but that Wynch and Goodbrother fought to possess her is what allowed the people of Fair Isle to retake Faircastle and finally expel the Ironborn.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: Lysa's fate after Johanna Lannister's liberation of Fair Isle and invasion of the Iron Islands is unknown.
House Foote
House Foote of Nightsong
House Foote is a noble house from the Westerlands. They blazon their arms with a copper dagger across a black chevron on white.
Footes are an ancient line, dating back to the days of the First Men.
Ser Philip Foote, Lord of Nightsong and Lord of the Marches
Ser Philip Foote is a one-eyed knight of little note from House Foote in the Westerlands.
- Bit Character: Plays a minor role in books, having three short appearances as a knight honored for his role in the Battle of the Blackwater, a member of the court sent to greet the Dornish delegation, and as one of the witnesses at Tyrion's trial.
- Eyepatch of Power: Wears an eye patch over his missing eye.
- Handicapped Badass: Despite only having one eye, he is a skilled warrior who survived one of the bloodiest battles of the War of the Five Kings.
- The Rival: To Ser Rolland Storm who claims Nightsong as the sole living descendant of Bryen Caron.
House Jast
House Jast
House Jast is a noble house of the Westerlands. The name and location of their keep has not been revealed yet.
According to semi-canon sources their banner is an inverted pall between three lion's heads, yellow on black. Their motto has not been mentioned.
Lord Antario Jast
Head of House Jast. He is married to Lanna Lannister, a cousin of the main Lannister line, who is sister to Ser Lucion Lannister and daughter of Shiera Crakehall and Ser Damion Lannister, castellan of Casterly Rock, himself son of Joanna Lannister's half- brother Damon and his cousin Ella.
- Badass in Distress: He is badly wounded at the Battle of Oxcross and taken captive by members of House Piper.
- Bling of War: Wears armor made of black steel with three gold lion's heads on his breastplate.
- Empty Shell: His captivity broke him. Following Antario's release from Pinkmaiden Castle, Ser Jaime Lannister notes that he looks like a "shadow" of the man he once was due to his injuries and imprisonment.
- Reports of My Death Were Greatly Exaggerated: Thought dead at the battle of Oxcross, but was actually held captive by House Piper.
House Kenning of Kayce
House Kenning of Kayce
House Kenning of Kayce is a noble house from the westerlands. They blazon their arms with four sunbursts counterchanged on quartered orange and black.
To see its parent branch, see the Harlaw Houses page.
- The Ghost: The Lord of Kayce, Terrence Kenning hasn't appeared in-person yet.
- No Name Given: The Knight of Kayce killed during the Dance of Dragons and whose widow was taken as salt-wife by Dalton Greyjoy.
Ser Kennos of Kayce
A knight in service to House Kenning of Kayce. He joins Ser Jaime Lannister's campaign to subdue the Riverlands. He is entrusted with the Horn of Herrock by Lord Terrence.
- Ascended Extra: He is seen once by Sansa Stark practicing with other knights in a courtyard of the Red Keep in A Storm of Swords before becoming a supporting character in Jaime's POV in A Feast For Crows.
- Satellite Character: To Jaime.
Historical Kennings
Herrock Kenning
Herrock the Whoreson
Herrock Kenning, known as Herrock the Whoreson, was an ironborn warrior of House Kenning of Harlaw who founded House Kenning of Kayce in the Westerlands. His war horn, the Horn of Herrock, has been passed down by his descendants.
- Famous Ancestor: Of the Kennings, being the founder of the mainland branch who abandoned their Ironborn heritage. During the wars between the driftwood kings and the Kings of the Rock, Herrock the Whoreson used his horn as a signal for the whores of Kayce to open a postern gate. His men then captured the town in the name of House Lannister.
- Going Native: Fully embraced mainland ways, discarding his Ironborn roots and proclaiming loyalty to House Lannister.
- Long-Dead Badass: He was a highly skilled warrior who liberated Kayce with his men and personally slew three Ironborn king who attempted to retake the town over the years.
House Lefford
House Lefford of the Golden Tooth
House Lefford of the Golden Tooth is one of the chief noble houses from the westerlands. The seat of the House is at the Golden Tooth. The castle controls the main entrance to the westerlands from the east.
House Lefford blazons its arms with a golden inverted pile on sky blue, a sun left in the sky.
Tropes related to House Lefford:
- Gate Guardian: They are in charge of defending the largest mountain pass between the Westerlands and the Riverlands. They don't do a very good job during the War of the Five Kings, when Robb Stark's direwolf managed to find and lead the Northern army through a unsecured goat path near the Golden Tooth.
- The Ghost: Lady Alyssane Lefford has yet to make an appearance besides being mentioned in the Appendix for A Feast for Crows. Lady Leonella Lefford, the wife of Lothar Frey, and Myranda Lefford, the wife of Stafford Lannister, have also only been included in the Appendix.
- No Name Given: The name of Lord Lefford during the First Blackfyre Rebellion is currently unknown.
Lord Leo Lefford, Lord of the Golden Tooth
Head of House Lefford and Lord of the Golden Tooth. Drowns at the Battle of the Fords.
- Alliterative Name: Leo Lefford.
- Fantastic Racism: He is extremely displeased when Tyrion brings the mountain clans from the Vale to join the Lannister army and is very reluctant to hand over well-crafted weapons to savages like them. Tyrion notes his reaction would have been more appropriate if it had been his virgin daughters he was asked to hand over to the clans.
- Hollywood Drowning: He drowns during the Battle of the Fords.
- Hypocrite: In A Clash of Kings, he dismissed the rumors of Harrenhal being haunted but kept a candle burning on his bedside while staying there.
- We Hardly Knew Ye: Appears in two scenes in the first book before perishing in a off-page battle during the second.
Historical Leffords
Lord Humfrey Lefford
Head of House Lefford during the Dance of the Dragons. Forced to lead the Westerlands' army after the deaths of all other more capable commanders, he perished along most of his army in the Fishfeed.
- General Failure: Not only his age and injuries slowed down the march of the army, his overtly cautious reaction gave the Blacks plenty of time to surround his forces.
- "Shaggy Dog" Story: After barely managing to lead the army all the way into the Riverlands, the entire host was broken at the God's Eye, knocking the Westerlands out of the war.
- You Are in Command Now: The elderly and infirm Lord Lefford was forced to lead the Westerlands forces after the death of Lord Jason Lannister and Adrian Tarbeck, only to perish at the Battle by the Lakeshore.
House Lydden
House Lydden of Deep Den
House Lydden of Deep Den is is a noble house from the Westerlands. Their blazon is a a white badger on per pale green and brown. Their motto has not been mentioned.
- Alliterative Name: Lewys Lydden.
- Bit Character: Lord Lewys Lydden is one of the many Westerlands' lords who fight for Tywin Lannister during the War of the Five Kings. One of his archers gets hanged for starting a fight with the Brave Companions.
- Famous Ancestor: Ser Joffrey Lydden, who married into House Lannister and became the first Andal King of the Rock, ruling as King Joffrey Lannister.
- Posthumous Character: Lady Jeyne Lydden, the second wife of Ser Stevron Frey, mother of Aegon "Jinglebell" Frey and Maegelle Frey, who died from falling off a horse.
House Marbrand
House Marbrand of Ashemark
- "Burning Bright"—Marbrand House Words
House Marbrand of Ashemark is one of the main noble houses from the Westerlands. Their seat of Ashemark is located in the hilly area near where the Tumblestone begins.
Their blazon is a burning tree, orange on smoke.
Tropes related to House Marbrand:
- All Your Base Are Belong to Us: Their castle is briefly seized by Robb Stark during his invasion of the Westerlands in the War of the Five Kings.
- The Ghost: Lord Damon, despite being one of the most powerful Westerlands lords, has yet to appear in the series. Lady Darlessa Marbrand, the wife of the late Ser Tygett Lannister and mother of Tyrek Lannister, has only been included in the appendixes so far.
- Famous Ancestor: Ser Denys Marbrand was a participant at Ashford's Tourney.
- Theme Naming: Members of the house tend to have names that start with 'A' and 'D'; Addam, Alyn, Damon, Darlessa and Denys.
- Undying Loyalty: To House Lannister.
Ser Addam Marbrand, commander of the City Watch
- "Two battles do not make a war. We are far from lost. I should welcome the chance to try my own steel against this Stark boy."
Son of Damon and heir to House Marbrand. He is a childhood friend of Jaime Lannister and is one of the top military commanders from the Westerlands.
- The Ace: He's a superb swordsman and horseman, a capable commander, noted In-Universe to be good looking; and head and shoulders above most of the officers in service to the Lannisters in terms of competence and reliability, practically serving as a Hypercompetent Sidekick. And he does it all without being a Jerkass to boot.
- Badass Cape: Wears a smoke-grey cloak. While he commanded the City Watch of King's Landing, he wore a gold cloak.
- Bling of War: Wears burnished bronzed steel armor with the burning tree of his house etched black on the breastplate.
- The Captain: Appointed as commander of the Goldcloaks after the Battle of the Blackwater, a job which he hates. After Jaime asks him to join him on his campaign to subdue the Riverlands, Addam eagerly quits his job to do so.
- Cavalry Officer: Commands Tywin Lannister's cavalry forces. Later does the same for Jaime.
- Childhood Friend: To Jaime, whom he met while serving as a page at Casterly Rock as a youth.
- Colonel Badass: During the Battle of the Red Fork, he commands the right flank of the Lannister lines, with over 4,000 soldiers and knights under his command. He crushes the Northmen he fights, and his forces take numerous highborn captives.
- A Father to His Men: Or at least, as Tyrion notes, one that men will willingly follow into danger.
- Frontline General: He rides alongside his men from the front of their cavalry charges and leads scouting missions personally.
- Impossible Task: He is tasked with finding the whereabouts of the disappeared boy lord Tyrek Lannister, who vanished during the riot at King's Landing after the departure of Myrcella Baratheon to Dorne. In spite of having the resources of House Lannister and the City Watch, he is utterly incapable to find the boy nor the most minimal clue as to his status. When Jaime leaves King's Landing to sort the Riverlands, Ser Addam travels with him to Hayford to offer his sincere apologies for not finding the boy, who is the lord of the keep by marriage. As Jaime later speculates, Tyrek might have been slain at the riot, but the peasants realized who they had slain and stormed the body away to avoid the ire of House Lannister.
- Knight in Shining Armor: One of the finest knights and leaders in the Westerlands, and a thoroughly honorable one to boot.
- Long-Haired Pretty Boy: He is noted to be very attractive and wears his copper hair a little past his shoulders. Arya notes how upset most of the women at Harrenhal seem the day Ser Addam leaves.
- Master Swordsman: He is regarded as one of the best swordsmen serving the Lannister army.
- New Job as the Plot Demands: He's one of the most competent and charismatic commanders the Lannisters have, so Tywin had a habit of putting Ser Addam in charge of whatever area was being troublesome, keeping him there just long enough to resolve the issues plaguing the Lannisters, and then moving him to the next problem spot. Ser Addam himself isn't exactly a fan of this, as he reveals in his eagerness to get out of commanding the Goldcloaks and back to his preferred position as Cavalry Officer.
- Punch-Clock Villain: As a Lannister bannerman, he engages in brutal acts like conducting chevauchées in the Riverlands, and even urges that they continue. In everyday life, he's affable and gracious to everyone. This includes Tyrion, even after he falls out of favor.
- The Reliable One: By far one of the most talented and competent Lannister bannerman, doing numerous thankless tasks and handling them all very competently, while other Lannister commanders continually fail.
- Secret-Keeper: One of the few individuals to know that Jaime is incapable of fighting with his left hand, having tried to initially help train Jaime to fight again before being replaced with Ser Ilyn Payne.
- Token Good Teammate: Is courteous to everyone he interacts with, including Tyrion, and comes off as competent, capable, and trustworthy in comparison to the other top Lannister commanders.
Historical Marbrands
Ser Lorent Marbrand
See the Rhaenyra's page.Lord Alyn Marbrand, Lord of Ashemark
- "Sweet words, and long have I yearned to hear your lordship speak them."
Father of Jeyne Marbrand, the wife of Lord Tytos Lannister, and grandfather of Lord Tywin, Ser Kevan, Lady Genna, Ser Tygett, and Ser Gerion.
- All There in the Manual: He is only mentioned in The World of Ice & Fire.
- Hope Spot: Given one by Tytos after finally being ordered to bring the rebellious Tarbecks to heel, causing him to respond with the above quote, only to be killed by the Reynes on his way there.
- Number Two: He was Tytos' main adviser and did his best to try to keep some respect for his son-in-law intact in the Westerlands, but Tytos routinely ignored his advice and became a further laughingstock.
- Only Sane Man: He was the only major Westerlands noble who actually tried to mold Tytos into an effective ruler instead of taking advantage of his weakness to enrich his own house or plot to overthrow him, which left the Westerlands in chaos.
- Posthumous Character: Died around 45 years before the main series began while en route to arrest the Tarbecks for their crimes. Lord Roger Reyne slaughtered Alyn's camp during a nighttime ambush and later claimed he believed they were a large band of outlaws.
Lady Jeyne Lannister (nee Marbrand)
Daughter of Lord Alyn Marbrand, Lady Jeyne married Tytos Lannister in 235 AC. She is the mother of Tywin, Kevan, Genna, Tygett and Gerion.
- Death by Childbirth: Giving birth to Gerion took a toll on her, and she died within a month of the birth.
- Good Parents: While not outright stated, it can be inferred she was a good mother to her children. It's quite telling that Tywin publicly humiliated and banished his father's mistress after he died because she dared to wear his late mother's jewelry and silk.
- Happily Married: To Tytos.
- The Lost Lenore: Her death took much of the joy from Tytos' life, and he was never called the Laughing Lion afterwards.
- The Rival: Of Ellyn Reyne/Tarbeck. They warred both at the court of Casterly Rock, which Jeyne got Ellyn expelled from after exposing her efforts to seduce Tytos, and in the marriage bed, with each trying to have more children with their husband than the other woman. The rivalry became known as the War of the Wombs.
- She's All Grown Up: Described as shy and plain faced as a child, who grew up to be a great beauty.
House Payne
House Payne
House Payne is a noble house from the Westerlands. It is one of the principal houses sworn to House Lannister. Their arms are purple and white chequy with gold coins in the checks.
Tropes related to House Payne:
- Names to Run Away from Really Fast: The House of Payne.
- Noodle Incident: There is a story behind why their banner has gold coins on it, but it is currently unknown what that story is.
Ser Ilyn Payne, the King's Justice
- "He does so love his work."—Varys to Eddard Stark
A knight who served in Tywin Lannister’s guard when he was Hand to King Aerys, he had his tongue cut out for remarking that Tywin was the one who ruled the kingdom. He was appointed as the King's Justice under Robert Baratheon.
- Bald of Evil: Described as almost completely bald and is a nasty piece of work who lives almost solely for killing and mocking others.
- BFS: After Tywin takes Ice from him, Ser Ilyn is given a new six-foot long silver greatsword, decorated with runes, ruby eyes on the pommel, and a chunk of dragonglass carved in the shape of a skull.
- Color-Coded Eyes: He has pale, almost colorless, gray eyes that add heavily to his air of menace.
- The Confidant: Oddly enough, he becomes this for Jaime during the Riverlands campaign. Since Payne can't read, write, or talk, he has no way of spilling any of the secrets Jaime tells him and provides a useful sounding board for Jaime to bounce his thoughts off out loud. Payne is highly amused by this situation.
- Covered with Scars: His face is marked with many pox scars.
- The Dreaded: Comes with being the King's Justice, but many characters note that Ser Ilyn would still be really scary even without that job. Sansa Stark in particular is especially frightened of him, even before he cuts off her father's head.
- Empty Shell: Payne's a ruin of a human being with little to live for. Jaime notes that Payne seems surprisingly happy to be on the road with him in A Feast For Crows, because it's giving him something to do for the first time in years other than chop people's heads off.
- The Executioner: Serves as the King's Justice and as such executed prisoners such as Ned Stark.
- Hero Killer: Not a regular thing for him, but he pretty much becomes this when he kills Ned Stark at Joffrey's behest.
- Lean and Mean: Noted to be quite thin, with his gaunt appearance only adding to his unnerving presence.
- Men Can't Keep House: Jaime stops by his living quarters at one point and finds it filthy and full of vermin. Payne doesn't care. It also establishes unequivocally the fact that he's kind of an Empty Shell of a man.
- Misblamed: Cersei blames him for Tyrion's escape and the death of Tywin as he's officially in charge of the Red Keep jails, even though his muteness causes him to actually delegate the surveillance of prisoners to others, and that it was Jaime who freed Tyrion.
- My Master, Right or Wrong: He kills people whenever ordered to because that's his job.
- Never Learned to Read: Or write, which makes him a perfect Secret-Keeper when combined with his lack of a tongue.
- Off with His Head!: His method of execution, and is very good at it. He rarely ever needs more than one stroke.
- The Peter Principle: While he's noted to be a superb headsman due to being a skilled swordsman who can behead a man with a single stroke and an intimidating figure besides, the King's Justice is also responsible for the running of the dungeons in the Red Keep, and Jaime notes him to be "singularly ill suited" for that aspect of the job due to being illiterate and mute, causing him to fob the job off onto his underlings.
- Punchclock Villain: Unlike the vast majority of names on Arya's list, Ilyn has done terrible things but isn't evil. He's just an executioner who does his job and killing Ned Stark was nothing personal. He might enjoy his work a bit more than is usually healthy in a headsman, but he's pretty harmless to people off the job.
- Punny Name: Ser "Ill In Pain".
- Retired Badass: Payne was the captain of Tywin's personal guard and a noted swordsman. After spending fifteen years as King's Justice his skills have gone to rust, before Jaime pulls him out of retirement and makes him his fencing partner and confidante.
- Secret-Keeper: Jaime confides in Ilyn that he and Cersei were lovers and tells him an astounding number of personal details about his personal history, simply so he can tell another human being. Ilyn is completely nonjudgmental save to mock him silently and can't tell anyone anyways, since he has no tongue and cannot write.
- Silent Snarker: Comes across this way to Jaime (and once openly laughs at him), to the point that Jaime complains You Talk Too Much!. This makes sense since the reason Ilyn got his tongue cut out was for snarking about King Aerys.
- The Speechless: Cannot talk due to losing his tongue under orders of the Mad King.
- Tongue Trauma: King Aerys has Ilyn's tongue removed with hot pincers as punishment for mocking him.
Podrick Payne
Pod
A member of a lesser branch of House Payne, he was assigned to be Tyrion's squire following Tyrion's appointment as temporary Hand of the King.
- Alliterative Name: P's.
- Apologizes a Lot: Due to his insecurities and fear of screwing up, Pod tends to mumble out a lot of apologies even if they are not necessary.
- Badass and Child Duo: With Brienne.
- Bookworm: He is fond of reading and is a quick study. He even manages to memorize the sigils of the Houses of Dorne and points them out for Tyrion when the Dornish procession approaches King's Landing, which impresses Tyrion.
- Big Damn Heroes: Comes out of nowhere to save Tyrion's life during the Battle of the Blackwater by pushing Ser Mandon Moore into the water to drown before he can stab Tyrion. Later he again pulls this off by throwing a rock into Shagwell's head, disorienting and distracting him long enough for Brienne to kill Timeon and then capture Shagwell.
- Captain Obvious: A habit of his, because he's so afraid of not speaking clearly enough.
- Character Tics: Because of his shyness, he tends not to look at people when speaking to them.
- Child Soldier: Despite only being twelve, he fought at the Battle of the Blackwater. Tyrion tried to send him to safety before leading a sortie beyond the city walls, but Pod refused to leave him.
- Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: You wouldn't expect the constantly nervous, twelve-year-old boy to be able to kill a member of the Kingsguard or take on members of the Brave Companions.
- Does Not Understand Sarcasm: Due to his constant nervousness, he's slow to pick up on Tyrion's snark.
- Hidden Depths: Originally introduced as Tyrion's meek and unassuming squire whom everyone automatically dismisses, Pod turns out to be quite smart, extremely loyal, and actually somewhat skilled at fighting.
- It Has Been an Honor: As he's lead out to an uncertain fate, Tyrion thanks Pod for being the only man loyal enough to stand by him. "You're a better squire than I deserve." This casual but heartfelt remark causes Pod to go on The Quest to find Sansa Stark and thus Tyrion, because that's what a loyal squire would do.
- I Will Find You: A non-romantic example to Tyrion. In the fourth book he follows Brienne because he believes if she finds Sansa, he can find Tyrion.
- Let's Get Dangerous!: Tyrion and Brienne are both rather astounded when Pod turns out to be incredibly helpful in combat.
- Loser Has Your Back: For both Tyrion and Brienne, both of whom quickly forget about him when entering battle and are stunned when he suddenly saves them.
- Parental Abandonment: His father died during the Greyjoy rebellion while his mother literally abandoned him when he was four. He had two Parental Substitutes who also died, the first while fighting in the Riverlands for Tywin, the second was executed for stealing a ham. After the second one died, Pod was handed over to Tyrion as a squire. Losing so many people is probably why he's so dedicated to finding Tyrion.
- The Quiet One: Does not speak much, although he gets a bit more vocal after the Battle of the Blackwater and even more so when he starts serving Brienne.
- The Squire: First served as a squire to Ser Cedric Payne, but he died early in the War of the Five Kings. A hedge knight named Ser Lorimer then took him on, but was executed for stealing a ham. Pod ate some of the ham as well, but was spared due to his noble status, and was taken into custody by Ser Kevan Lannister, who assigned him to Tyrion. It's noted that since neither Tyrion nor Brienne are knights, so technically Pod can't be their squire. This does not stop Pod from taking on the role regardless.
- Tag Along Kid: To Brienne in A Feast for Crows.
- Undying Loyalty: He's Tyrion's squire and he takes his duty very seriously. He's even trying to find Tyrion to serve him after Tyrion was falsely accused of killing Joffrey and rightly accused of killing the Hand of the King, Tywin Lannister.
Ser Cedric Payne
A knight of House Payne.
- Parental Substitute: Adopted Pod after he was abandoned by his mother (though extrapolating from Pod's stories, Brienne gets the impression that the boy was treated more like a servant than a son).
- Posthumous Character: Died in the War of the Five Kings without ever being seen.
House Peckledon
House Peckledon
- "Unflinching"—Peckledon House Words
House Peckledon is a noble house from the Westerlands. They blazon their arms with ten purple stars, on a yellow field.
Josmyn Peckledon
Peck
A squire in King's Landing, he becomes Ser Jaime Lannister's squire during the Riverlands campaign.
- Ascended Extra: He has two small scenes in A Clash of Kings and A Storm of Swords, but in A Feast for Crows he becomes a supporting character in Jaime's chapters.
- Coitus Uninterruptus: After starting a relationship with Pia, they often have sex in Peck's corner of Jaime's tent, within view of Jaime and the other squires. Jaime even becomes used to falling asleep to the sounds of Peck and Pia's lovemaking.
- Crush Blush: Jaime is amused when Peck's face turns "beet red" after he asks the squire if he likes Pia.
- In-Series Nickname: He is called Peck.
- Likes Older Women: He begins a relationship with Pia, who is ten years older than him.
- Pint-Sized Powerhouse: He is skinny and not yet fully grown, but is strong and skilled, being able to defeat much larger and older knights.
- The Squire: Is assigned to Jaime as a squire during the mop-up campaign in the Riverlands.
- Unequal Pairing: With Pia, who is a peasant and at least ten years older than him. He is encouraged by Jaime to be with her while he can, even though their relationship will be constrained by Peck's social status.
House Plumm
House Plumm
- "Come Try Me"—Plumm House Words
House Plumm is a noble house of the westerlands. Neither their arms or their motto appear in the books. According to semi-canon sources, they blazon their arms as three purple rondels on gold.
Tropes related to House Plumm:
- Aerith and Bob: Ossifer, Viserys, and Harwyn are all related to Peter, Dennis, Philip, and Ben. What makes this an especially noticeable case is that none of the latter even have a case of My Nayme Is; there are no other Peters in the entire series with identical spelling, only two other Dennises, and only one other Phillip.
- Alliterative Name: Lord Phillip Plumm, and his son Peter Plumm.
- Badass Family: All of Lord Phillip's sons are accomplished knights, to say nothing of their distant relative Brown Ben.
- Famous Ancestor: Ser Petyr Plumm was one of the many participants at Ashford Tourney.
- The Ghost: Lord Phillip Plumm, the head of House Plumm, has yet to appear in the series.
Ser Harwyn Plumm
Hardstone
Lord Phillip's third son.
- Beware the Quiet Ones: Hard-eyed and taciturn, unforgiving and deadly.
- Brutish Character, Brutish Weapon: Downplayed, as he is a stoic badass, but not quite a brute. His weapon of choice is a warhammer.
- The Dragon: As commander of the Darry garrison, he's one to Lord Lancel Lannister.
- Dragon-in-Chief: He does most of the actual work for Lancel, hunting down outlaws in the area.
- Named After Somebody Famous: He was possibly named after Harwyn "Hardhand" Hoare.
- Names to Run Away from Really Fast: Hardstone.
- No Sense of Humor: Unlike his brothers.
- Sibling Yin-Yang: Both his elder brothers are friendly and jovial knights. Ser Harwyn is the exact opposite.
- The Stoic: Notably shows very little emotion.
"Brown" Ben Plumm
- See the Second Sons page
Historical Plumms
Lord Ossifer Plumm
- "And Ossifer Plumm was much too dead, but that did not stop him fathering a child, did it?"—Queen Cersei
Lord Ossifer was a wealthy head of House Plumm. He married Princess Elaena Targaryen during the reign of King Aegon IV Targaryen.
- Go Out With A Bang: Died while consummating his marriage. To be fair, he was old.
- Mama's Baby, Papa's Maybe: Ossifer was said to have died before he could perform. It gave rise to rumors that he must have had a Gag Penis if he could impregnate a girl from beyond the grave. It's more likely his son was Aegon IV's bastard.
- Named After Somebody Famous: His (possible) son Viserys was likely named after Aegon IV's father.
- Old Man Marrying a Child: He was noticeably older than his wife Elaena, although by how much is not specified.
- Running Gag: His exploit is still talked about over a century after the fact.
Ser Maynard Plumm
- "You would be surprised how many Lords want their King to be brave and stupid."
Ser Maynard Plumm is a knight of House Plumm. He attends the Whitewalls tourney but doesn't compete.
- The Mole: Revealed to be one of Bloodraven's agents out to uncover the Blackfyre conspiracy.
- Nice Guy: He helps Dunk without any ulterior motives.
- Secret Identity: It's possible he is Bloodraven.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: He vanishes when Bloodraven arrives.
House Prester
House Prester of Feastfires
- "Tireless"—Prester House Words
House Prester of Feastfires is one of the principal noble houses sworn to Casterly Rock. Their seat at Feastfires is located at the westernmost point of the westerlands.
Their blazon is a red ox on ermine.
Tropes related to House Prester:
- Famous Ancestor: Marla Prester, the wife of Ser Jason Lannister and mother of Stafford, Joanna and other three Lannisters.
- The Ghost: Lord Garrison Prester, the head of House Prester and Lord of Feastfires, has yet to make an appearance.
Ser Forley Prester
Garrison's cousin. He is part of Jaime Lannister's army in the Riverlands.
- Animal Motifs: Subverted in that he doesn't look at all like the Prester sigil.
- Bald of Authority: He is completely bald and is one of the Lannister's most competent commanders, with Jaime considering him a shrewd man who is no one's fool.
- Colonel Badass: The only Lannister commander to act competently when the camps besieging Riverrun were assaulted by Robb Stark's forces, managing to withdrew with his forces intact and retreat back to the Golden Tooth.
- Cool Helmet: His helmet has bull horns.
- Everyone Has Standards: While he has no problems with ordering archers to stand by and be ready to pepper Edmure with arrows in the case of an attempted rescue, Forley is clearly troubled by Jaime's instruction to have some men be ready to shoot Jeyne Westerling as well in case of such an attempt. This maybe because she is so young and a daughter of a man he seems to know personally (judging by his addressing Lord Westerling by first name, without any honorifics to boot).
- The Smart Guy: Jaime notes he would make an excellent Hand of the King.
House Spicer
House Spicer of Castamere
House Spicer is a young noble house seated at Castamere in the Westerlands. They blazon their arms with three black pepperpots on a saffron bend, across a field of green and silver stripes. The grandfather of the current Spicers was literally a spice merchant, and the grandmother was a maegi (witch) from the east known as "Maggy the Frog".
Tropes related to House Spicer:
- Alliterative Name: Ser Samwell Spicer, Ralph and Sybell's cousin.
- The Mole: All Spicers turn out to be moles for Tywin Lannister.
- Nouveau Riche: The other houses see them as this as their founder was a spice merchant.
Ser (now Lord) Rolph Spicer, Lord of Castamere
Head of House Spicer and new Lord of Castamere.
- Aristocrats Are Evil: Helps plot a massacre to gain a lordship.
- Beard of Evil: Revealed to be one after he is shown to be a spy for the Lannisters.
- Fake Defector: He was always loyal to the Lannisters, or at least his own ambition.
- The Mole: Along with his sister Sybell.
- Snipe Hunt: Catelyn Stark sends Ser Rolph on a mission to exchange Martyn Lannister for Robett Glover, motivated by Grey Wind's distrust for him. While obviously not a pointless task, Catelyn considers its importance secondary to keeping him far away from King Robb Stark. However, sending Rolph away places him in the perfect position to play his part in the downfall of Robb because it averts Keeping the Enemy Close.
- Turn Coat: Switches from fighting for the Lannisters to fighting for the Starks after his niece marries Robb. Except he never truly switched sides, and was working with his sister to betray and kill Robb.
Lady Sybell Spicer
- See the House Westerling page
House Stackspear
House Stackspear
House Stackspear is a noble house from the Westerlands, sworn to House Lannister. Their sigil is two spears crossed over a silver and gold checkered shield.- Alliterative Family: So far, the members of this family include Steffon and Selmond, Alys and Alyn, and Walder and Willam.
- Alliterative Name: Lord Selmond Stackspear and his heir Steffon.
- Famous Ancestor: Willam Stackspear was a member of Aegon III's regency council for its final year.
- Ser Walder Stackspear was present at the Ashford Tourney of 209 AC.
- Know When to Fold Them: Lord Stackspear ignored Tytos's orders, but helped Tywin subdue the Tarbecks and Reynes.
- Mistreatment-Induced Betrayal: An unnamed Lord Stackspear ignored Lord Tytos's request he lower his taxes, possibly due to his daughter's death being indirectly Jason Lannister's fault.
- Really Gets Around: Ser Alyn is rumoured to be the father of the Gaoler's child by men stationed at Harrenhal.
- They Call Him "Sword": Stackspear, obviously.
Alys Stackspear
The young daughter of Lord Stackspear during the reign of King Aegon V.
- Adapted Out: She was cut out of the published version of The World of Ice And Fire.
- Arranged Marriage: To Jason Lannister after he impregnated her.
- Death by Childbirth: She dies giving birth to Damon.
- Defiled Forever: Specifically averted by Lord Tytos, in a rare display of backbone, making Jason marry her... only for her to die in childbirth anyway.
- Shotgun Wedding: Quickly married to Jason after he impregnated her.
House Turnberry
House Turnberry is a noble house from the Westerlands. They blazon their arms with nine strawberries on a white saltire, on green and red vairy in point.
Ser Lambert Turnberry
A knight from House Turnberry. He wears a patch over his good right eye and swears he will not remove it till Tyrion is dead.
- Adaptational Name Change: Called Lyman Turnberry in the original draft.
- Eyepatch of Power: Invoked. He doesn't actually need one.
- Laser-Guided Karma: Of the "Deeply ironic but undeserved" variety; he promises to kill the falsely accused Tyrion, and ends up falsely accused of a crime himself. Then again, it's hard to blame him considering he would have no way of knowing Tyrion was really innocent, and the Imp did actually kill Tywin and Shae.
- No Good Deed Goes Unpunished: Promised Cersei to bring back Tyrion's head but is instead falsely accused of being one of Margaery Tyrrell's lovers.
Historical Turnberrys
Lady Alys Pryor née Turnberry
Sweetberry
One of the closest friends of Princess Saera Targaryen alongside Perrianne Moore, Jonah Mooton, Roy Connington and Braxton Beesbury. When she found herself pregnant and didn't knew who the father was it was arranged by Queen Alysanne for her to marry Lord Dunstan Pryor. The baby was a girl with the red hair of Connington.- Affectionate Nickname: Saera called her "Sweetberry."
- Ambiguously Bi: Apparently she practiced kissing with her friends with her clothes off.
- Arranged Marriage: To Lord Dunstan Pryor.
- Brainless Beauty: She was pretty and vapid but also mentioned as an empty-headed little fool.
- Girl Posse: Alongside Perianne Moore, she was this for Saera.
- Mama's Baby, Papa's Maybe: Roy Connington refuses to marry her for precisely this reason, suspecting that she was pregnant with Jonah Mooton's child and not his. It was All for Nothing, however, because the child was his (whoops).
House Westerling
House Westerling of The Crag
- Honor, not Honors—House Westerling words
- See the House Westerling page.
Landed Knights
House Clegane
House Clegane of Clegane's Keep
House Clegane is a house of landed knights that holds fealty to House Lannister of Casterly Rock, and are among their primary bannermen. Their lands are southeast of Casterly Rock and include a towerhouse, which, according to a semi-canon source, is named Clegane's Keep. Their sigil is three dogs on a yellow field.- See the House Clegane page
House Clifton
House Clifton is a knightly house from the Westerlands. It is a vassal house of House Farman of Fair Isle. Neither its arms or its words are known.
- A House Divided: One of their own, Ser Humfrey, fights for Stannis. Meanwhile, Ser Hugh Clifton is a guard of Queen Margaery, from the Reach.
- The Ghost: The head of the House, Ser Gareth, and his wife, Jeyne Farman.
- Wrongfully Accused: Hugh Clifton is among those Cersei framed up as one of Margaery's lovers.
House Greenfield
House Greenfield of Greenfield
House Greenfield of Greenfield is a house of landed knights sworn to the Lannisters of Casterly Rock. The exact location of Greenfield in the westerlands has not been disclosed yet.Neither their arms or their words appear in the books, but according to semi-canon sources they blazon their shield as a double tressure white on green.
The Greenfields are an ancient line, dating back to the days of the First Men.
- Badass Family: Being a knightly family requires them to be this.
- Big Fancy Castle: During the Age of Heroes they built the Bower, a weirwood castle now called Greenfield.
- Famous Ancestor: Ser Myles Greenfield was present at the tournament of Ashford Meadow.
Ser Garth Greenfield, Knight of Greenfield
Ser Garth Greenfield is the Knight of Greenfield and head of House Greenfield.- Alliterative Name: G's.
- Badass in Distress: He is taken captive during the battle in the Whispering Wood.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: Ser Garth is held captive at Raventree Hall. When the war ends, we don't if he's still even alive.
Ser Preston Greenfield
See the Kingsguard page. House Hetherspoon
House Hetherspoon is a house of landed knights sworn to Casterly Rock. The name and location of their keep is unknown.
Neither their arms or their words appear in the books, but according to semi-canon sources they blazon their shield as an oak spoon within a white cartouche on orange and black lozengy.
Tropes related to House Hetherspoon:
- The Ghost: Ser Tybolt Hetherspoon, the head of the house, has yet to appear in the series.
Melara Hetherspoon
Ser Tybolt's daughter and a childhood friend of Cersei's who visited Maggy the Frog with her.
- Childhood Friend: Of Cersei's.
- Death of the Hypotenuse: She drowned in a well within Cersei's hearing. It is implied that Cersei pushed her into the well because of Melara's attraction to Jaime and the wording of Maggy's prophecy regarding her death.Melara: Will I marry Jaime?
Maggy: Not Jaime, nor any other man. Worms will have your maidenhead. Your death is here tonight, little one. Can you smell her breath? She is very close. - Posthumous Character: She died two decades before the series began. Cersei has trouble remembering what she looked like.
House Lorch
House Lorch is a house of landed knights from the Westerlands. They blazon their shields with a black manticore (a poisonous insect) on white, beneath a crimson chief with three gold coins.
- Famous Ancestor: Ser Lyonel Lorch was one of the many noblemen that rebelled against Maegor I Targaryen during the Faith Militant Uprising.
Ser Lorent Lorch
A knight and the head of the family.
- Alliterative Name: Lorent Lorch.
- The Ghost: He has yet to appear in any of the books.
Ser Amory Lorch
The Manticore
- "Young boys and old men die the same."
A brutal knight sworn to House Lannister. His personal coat of arms is a manticore on a red field.
- Asshole Victim: Nobody in the series is sad to see him go, even on his own side.
- Aristocrats Are Evil: He is only a minor noble, but he is a vile brute who even other less than moral Westeros nobles despise.
- Black Knight: For the Lannisters.
- Blood Knight: He really does not care who he is killing so long as he is killing someone.
- The Brute: To Ser Gregor Clegane and Ser Jaime Lannister's Co-Dragons and Tywin's Big Bad.
- Cruel and Unusual Death: Forced to face a bear while naked for Roose Bolton and the Bloody Mummers' entertainment, which results in him getting torn apart and eaten.
- Deceased Fall-Guy Gambit: After Amory is killed, Tywin tries to pin all the blame for the death of Elia Martell and her children on him. While he did kill Rhaenys, he had nothing to do with Elia and Aegon's death at the hands of The Mountain. Nobody buys this story, since it is common knowledge that Ser Gregor was responsible.
- Dirty Coward: Sobs and screams all the way to his death.
- Dumb Muscle: Tywin considers his only use to be terrorizing and burning the Riverlands, not trusting him with anything tactical. He even screws this up by attacking the holdings of Houses in the Crownlands loyal to King Joffrey.
- Evil Old Folks: As a veteran of the Reyne-Tarbeck rebellions, Lorch has been doing the dirty work for House Lannister for almost 40 years.
- Exit, Pursued by a Bear: And how!
- Fat Bastard: He is described as "chunky" and is a disgusting brute.
- Fed to the Beast: Roose Bolton and the Bloody Mummers feed him to a bear for entertainment.
- I Lied: He threatened to hang a beekeeper and his wife unless Beric Dondarrion surrendered to him. To no one's surprise, he killed all of them, hanging Dondarrion between the other two.
- Jerkass: He even raids the lands of lords and knights that have remained loyal to the Iron Throne.
- Karmic Death: Arya finds his death by bear highly appropriate.Arya's thoughts: The bear is all in black. Like Yoren.
- Meaningful Name: Say his name real fast and "Amory Lorch" sounds kinds of like "Amoral".
- Mook Lieutenant: He is a minor raiding commander under Tywin's command, although he is later given greater responsibility to hold Harrenhal.
- Psycho for Hire: Though not as much a psycho as the Mountain.
- Rape, Pillage, and Burn: Like Gregor, Lorch is in charge of "foraging", i.e. steal everything you can and burn the rest.
- Smug Snake: Although he loses all his smugness in his Exit, Pursued by a Bear.
- Stupid Evil: His pointlessly, ludicrously excessive methods of killing toddlers is just the start: his contribution to the War of the Five Kings consists largely of murdering civilians for his own amusement and ordering unprovoked attacks on totally neutral parties and occasionally Lannister allies for no apparent reason.
- Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: He does not get along with Vargo Hoat at all. Odd, given how similar they are.
- There Is No Kill Like Overkill: Why, yes, stabbing a toddler fifty times would be considered overkill by most people!
- Undignified Death: He's thrown naked into a bear pit while clinging to his captors' legs and begging for mercy.
- Villainous Breakdown: Breaks down crying and begging for mercy when he is captured by Roose Bolton and Vargo Hoat.
- Villains Want Mercy: He begs for mercy when he's about to be fed to a bear. His captors give him about as much mercy as he showed Rhaenys.
- Would Hurt a Child: He was the one who killed the four-year-old Princess Rhaenys Targaryen. He stabbed her fifty times because she kicked him and would not stop screaming or struggling. Supplementary materials also describe him as murdering the last Lord Tarbeck, a three-year-old boy, by throwing him down a well.
House Swyft
House Swyft of Cornfield
- "Awake! Awake!"—Swyft House Words
House Swyft of Cornfield is a knightly house from Cornfield in the westerlands. They are among the principal houses sworn to House Lannister of Casterly Rock.
Their arms depict a blue bantam rooster on yellow.
Tropes related to House Swyft:
- Alliterative Name: Sir Steffon Swyft and Shierle Swyft.
- Famous Ancestor: Ser Addison Hill, the Bastard of Cornfield, was one of the first seven members of Aegon the Conqueror's Kingsguard.
- My Nayme Is: Swyft instead of Swift.
- No Name Given: The Lord Swyft that fell at the Battle by the Lakeshore during the Dance of Dragons.
Ser Harys Swyft, Knight of Cornfield, Hand of the King, Master of Coin and Lord Treasurer
Head of House Swyft and the Knight of Cornfield. His daughter Dorna is married to Ser Kevan Lannister. He also has a son Stefan, who is father to Joanna, and another daughter Shierle, married to Ser Melwyn Sarsfield. He is the current Master of Coin/Lord Treasurer on the Small Council.
- Ascended Extra: He was a minor recurring character in the first three books, but becomes much more important and has significant pagetime starting in A Feast for Crows.
- Awful Wedded Life: Implied in The Winds of Winter. While he's in Braavos, some of his guards gossip about how he doesn't want to go back home to his wife, who's so fat there's steps in Casterly Rock she can't go down for fear she'd get stuck.
- Bling of War: His yellow doublet is decorated with the rooster of his House in lapis beads.
- Butt-Monkey: His greatest battle accomplishment is getting pinned under his horse, the cooks at Harrenhal spit in his food, his squire is killed in a fight with the Brave Companions, he has to kiss Vargo Hoat, Cersei makes him her Hand specifically because he is an idiot, Kevan sends him to Braavos to get rid of him, and now, thanks to Arya, he's down one guardsman.
- Captain Obvious: He points out obvious facts several times, usually followed by someone sarcastically thanking him for reminding them.
- Dirty Coward: Numerous characters think about how appropriate it is that his house's sigil is a chicken.
- Does Not Understand Sarcasm: When the small council receives word that Davos has been beheaded, Aurane Waters japes that Stannis will need another Hand ("The turnip knight, perhaps?"). Harys is confused and says he's never heard of a turnip knight, which makes Waters roll his eyes.
- General Failure: He doesn't understand basic siege tactics, which the rest of Tywin Lannister's war council have to explain to him.
- I Have Your Wife: The "wife" in this scenario: the only reason Harys is appointed as Hand by Cersei is so he is within her power, and he effectively becomes a hostage to ensure Ser Kevan's loyalty to Cersei. Harys, of course, has no idea of the deeper political struggle going on between his son-in-law and Cersei and thinks he got appointed on merit.
- Insult to Rocks: Cersei thinks his sigil should be a worm, since even a chicken is too bold for him.
- Irony: In ADWD he's made Master of Coin, despite being once so indebted with House Lannisters that Lord Tywin had to literally kidnap his daughter to be paid back.
- Number Two for Brains: Fits this trope during his brief tenure as Cersei's Hand.
- Noodle Incident: While staying with Lord Tywin's host at Harrenhal, he somehow managed to piss off all the cooks, who made a point of spitting in every meal he ate.
- Pet the Dog: One of his men-at-arms, Willit, is handsomely rewarded for saving his life.
- Professional Butt-Kisser: Jaime calls him "a shameless lickspittle".
- Sarcasm-Blind: Has a tendency to take sarcastic remarks absolutely seriously and try to respond to them. Particularly unfortunate for him, since he works closely with many Lannisters.
- Smarter Than You Look: People think of Harys as a pompous, self-important old fool, and they're largely right, and he's nowhere near as smart as he thinks he is. Nevertheless, he was one of the few debtors who, when Tywin started calling in debts after coming back from the War of the Ninepenny Kings, realized that the days of House Lannister being pushovers were done and immediately made arrangements to pay.
- Social Climber: Of the butt-kisser type: many characters note that the only reason he has any power and influence was because he somehow managed to get his daughter married to Kevan. Luckily for him, Dorna and Kevan love each other, and Kevan is fond of Harys, even if he gets annoyed by him sometimes, which has enabled Harys to rise to a position on the Small Council.
- Stroke the Beard: Has a habit of doing this, although his "beard" is just a tiny little puff of white hair.
- Unwanted Spouse: In The Winds of Winter his guards gossip that one of the reasons he's in no haste to leave Braavos is because of his wife.
- Upper-Class Twit: He didn't become Master of Coin because of his smarts.
- Yes-Man: To Cersei, and then Kevan.
Jocelyn Swyft
A member of House Swyft with an unidentified relation to Ser Harys. She serves as one of Queen Cersei Lannister's ladies-in-waiting.
- Lady-In-Waiting: Serves as one to Cersei.
- Satellite Character: To Cersei.
- Vomit Indiscretion Shot: When three thugs bring in the rotting head of a dwarf they claim is Tyrion, Jocelyn vomits immediately at the sight and smell of it. Cersei makes her clean it up.
Dorna Swyft
Ser Kevan Lannister's wife.See the House Lannister page to read about her.
Extinct Houses
House Casterly
House Casterly of Casterly Rock
Jaime Lannister: Never wound a foe when you can kill him. Dead men don't claim vengeance.
Hoster Blackwood: Their sons do.
Jaime Lannister: Not if you kill the sons as well. Ask the Casterlys about that if you doubt me.
House Casterly of Casterly Rock was the most prominent noble family in the Westerlands, until they were supplanted by House Lannister
Tropes related to House Casterley
- "Just So" Story: It was claimed that the first Casterly found a seam of gold in what became Casterly Rock after sparing the life of a couple of lion cubs.
- Posthumous Character: They are long gone for hundreds of years.
- Shrouded in Myth: Their demise is as mysterious as their origins. It is largely agreed that Lann the Clever was the reason for their disappearance. He either swindled or just murdered them.
House Reyne
House Reyne of Castamere
House Reyne of Castamere was a noble house from Castamere in the westerlands. They blazoned their arms with a red lion rampant regardant with a forked tail, armed and langued gold, on silver.
They were quite influential until they rebelled with House Tarbeck against their Lannister overlords. The rebellion was broken by Tywin Lannister. In the course of putting down the rebellion both houses were exterminated.
The fate of Houses Reyne and Tarbeck have been immortalized in the song "The Rains of Castamere".
- See the House Reyne page.
House Tarbeck
House Tarbeck of Tarbeck Hall
House Tarbeck of Tarbeck Hall was a noble house from Tarbeck Hall near the Crag in the westerlands. According to semi-canon sources they blazoned their arms with a seven-pointed star, parts silver parts blue, on silver and blue field. They joined House Reyne in the rebellion against House Lannister, and was the first of the two to feel the wrath of Tywin Lannister.
Tropes related to House Tarbeck:
- Famous Ancestor: Lord Alyn Tarbeck supported Prince Aegon Targaryen against Maegor the Cruel. After he died, Maegor took Alyn's wife Jeyne Westerling for his own.
- Lady Jocasta Tarbeck, the wife of Lord Lyman Lannister, who informed Rhaena Targaryen she was pregnant when she and her brother looked for shelter at Casterly Rock.
- Impoverished Patrician: Until Ellyn Reyne, through her brother the Red Lion, got Tytos Lannister to lend them money.
- Leave No Survivors: First victims of the Tywin doctrine, after killing a son of Walderan Tarbeck from his first marriage, Tywin captured Walderan and his living children who asked for mercy. Tywin had him, his sons, his nephews, male cousins and husbands of daughters beheaded, their heads put on pikes and carried as battle standards instead, and then destroyed Tarbeck Hall root and stem.
- Nobody knows if anybody was keeping track of, say, bastards. Or far-flung, distant cousins of disappointment. If any such loose ends were left dangling, they've been very careful to stay forgotten.
- Make an Example of Them: Much like House Reyne after them, Tywin wiped out the Tarbecks to demonstrate that unlike his father, he would not idly sit by and tolerate unruliness and insubordination among his vassals.
- Posthumous Character: Destroyed when they rebelled against the Lannisters.
- Take That!: According to material that was cut from the published version of The World of Ice and Fire, the names of Walderan Tarbeck's children by Ellyn Reyne, Rohanne, Cerelle and Tion, were meant as daggers against Gerold Lannister (the father of Ellyn's first husband). Rohanne was the name of Gerold's second wife, who vanished mysteriously. Cerelle was Gerold's niece, whom he was rumored to have murdered to become the Lord of Casterly Rock. Tion was Gerold's late second son and Ellyn's first husband.
- Taking the Veil: Tywin forced Rohanne and Cerelle to become Silent Sisters. It is unknown if he took their tongues before that or not.
- Theme Naming: Most of the members we know about had names that ended with "n"; Adrian, Alyn, Walderan.
- The Starscream: Along with House Reyne.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: The fate of Rohanne Tarbeck's son, the last surviving Tarbeck. It was rumored he found his way across the Narrow Sea and became a bard. Most likely, he was thrown down a well by Ser Amory Lorch.
Lord Walderan Tarbeck, Lord of Tarbeck Hall
Lord of Tarbeck Hall and husband of Lady Ellyn Reyne (with whom he had three children, Rohanne, Cerelle and Tion). He rose in rebellion against House Lannister alongside House Reyne.
- Arranged Marriage: Lord Gerold Lannister made Walderan's marriage pact to Ellyn as a way to rid Casterly Rock of Ellyn's presence.
- Distressed Dude: He was held hostage for a time at Casterly Rock by Tywin Lannister in an attempt to get House Tarbeck to repay its debts, but was eventually freed when Tytos forgave Tarbeck's debts.
- General Failure: When Tywin marched on Tarbeck Hall, Walderan did not have time to gather his allies to meet the Lannister army. Instead, he tried to charge them with only his male relatives and household knights. They were all swiftly captured and executed.
- Off with His Head!: After being defeated by Tywin's army, Walderan was beheaded alongside all his male relatives, and their heads were placed on pikes at the front of the army that marched on Tarbeck Hall.
- Too Dumb to Live: Twice: the first time was when he decided to respond to Tywin's declaration that lords must repay the debts they owed to House Lannister by going to Casterly Rock to convince Lord Tytos to reign in his son. Instead, he ended up a hostage and could have been killed had his wife not taken three Lannisters hostage herself, which forced Tytos to resolve the situation peacefully. The second time was fatal, when he decided to charge Tywin's army with no more than his household knights to back him up.
- Ungrateful Bastard: Repaid his Lord's generosity with treason.
Lady Ellyn Tarbeck
- See the House Reyne page.
Cyrelle and Rohanne Tarbeck
The daughters of Lord Walderan and Lady Ellyn.- Taking the Veil: They were both made to join the Silent Sisters.
- Tongue Trauma: If they really joined the Sisters, then their tongues were cut out as is the alleged custom dictates.
Tion Tarbeck
Tion the Red
The son of Walderan and Ellyn- Alliterative Name: Tion Tarbeck, named after the late Tion Lannister, Ellyn's first husband.
- In-Series Nickname: Tion the Red, after his red hair.
Other Tarbecks
Ser Adrian Tarbeck
A knight of House Tarbeck who fought for King Aegon II during the Dance of the Dragons.
- All There in the Manual: He is only mentioned in The World of Ice & Fire.
- Famous Ancestor: Is a famous and well-remembered knight of House Tarbeck.
- Long-Dead Badass: How he died is unknown, but he is nearly two-hundred years dead by the point of the main series.
- Mutual Kill: He and the hedge knight Ser Harry Penny fatally struck each other.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: Lord Lefford was the commander of the Lannister host at the Fishfeed, with no mention of why Ser Adrian was no longer in command. Fire and Blood reveals he was killed in a previous battle near Acorn Hall.
- You Are in Command Now: Took over command of the Lannister host after Lord Jason Lannister was killed at the Battle of the Red Fork by Pate of Longleaf.
